Calling all bakers: glass/ceramic pan v. metal pan?

Hot Fudge Pudding Cake
(Recipe from America's Test Kitchen

Serves 8

If you have cold, brewed coffee on hand, it can be used in place of the instant coffee and water, but to make sure it isn’t too strong, use 1 cup of cold coffee mixed with 1/2 cup of water. Serve the cake warm with vanilla or coffee ice cream. Leftovers can be reheated, covered with plastic wrap, in a microwave oven.

2 teaspoons instant coffee
1½ cups water
2/3 cup (2½ ounces) Dutch-processed cocoa
1/3 cup packed (1¾ ounces) brown sugar
1 cup (7 ounces) granulated sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
¾ cup (3¾ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup whole milk
¼ teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk

1. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly spray 8-inch square glass or ceramic baking dish with nonstick cooking spray (see illustration on page 321). Stir instant coffee into water; set aside to dissolve. Stir together 1/3 cup cocoa, brown sugar, and 1/3 cup granulated sugar in small bowl, breaking up large clumps with fingers; set aside. Melt butter, remaining 1/3 cup cocoa, and chocolate in small bowl set over saucepan of barely simmering water; whisk until smooth and set aside to cool slightly. Whisk flour and baking powder in small bowl to combine; set aside. Whisk remaining 2/3 cup sugar, vanilla, milk, and salt in medium bowl until combined; whisk in yolk. Add chocolate mixture and whisk to combine. Add flour mixture and whisk until batter is evenly moistened.

2. Pour batter into prepared baking dish and spread evenly to sides and corners. Sprinkle cocoa/sugar mixture evenly over batter (cocoa mixture should cover entire surface of batter); pour coffee mixture gently over cocoa mixture. Bake until cake is puffed and bubbling and just beginning to pull away from sides of baking dish, about 45 minutes. (Do not overbake.) Cool cake in dish on wire rack about 25 minutes before serving.

Variation
Individual Hot Fudge Pudding Cakes
Follow recipe for Hot Fudge Pudding Cake, heating oven to 400 degrees and lightly spraying eight 6- to 8-ounce ramekins with nonstick cooking spray; set ramekins on baking sheet. Divide batter evenly among ramekins (about ¼ cup per ramekin) and level with back of spoon; sprinkle about 2 tablespoons cocoa/sugar mixture over batter in each ramekin. Pour 3 tablespoons coffee mixture over cocoa/sugar mixture in each ramekin. Bake until puffed and bubbling, about 20 minutes. (Do not overbake.) Cool ramekins about 15 minutes before serving (cakes will fall).

Pan Size and Estimated Baking Time in a 350 degree F Oven: There really isn't a baking formula for time to bake... that's why one usually gives a range in a recipe and the baker her/himself needs to determine the final end point. Be sure to use the visual indicators to test for the proper doneness. If you select a glass bakeware dish or a dark, non-stick pan, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F.

NOTE: If you choose to scale a cake recipe, in general, I don't recommend adjusting the oven temperature, unless you are prepared to throw out a lot of recipes. Some baker's claim you should reduce the oven temperature when baking the recipe in a larger pan. In general, I won't recommend it because it is a fairly complex decision, based upon a lot of variables, and is not something I recommend as a blanket "yes!" on my website. In general, the larger the surface area that's exposed to the heat, the faster the cake will bake. In discussing this with Shirley Corriher, baking911.com's Advisor, she agrees with me. To paraphrase her: It depends on the new surface area and the size and thickness of the new pan, as well as the material. And, the decision to adjust baking temperatures is a complex one. Also, in Rose Levy Beranbaum's book, The Cake Bible, she does NOT recommend adjusting the oven heat as the pan size increases. Her charts show that the baking time will increase, as do I.

In general, if the new cake's surface is exposed to more oven heat than before, watch the cake during baking and if it starts to bake unevenly and brown quickly at the edges, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees F. If the cake is deeper than before, meaning you're using a deeper pan, then you may need to use a heating core to get the middle to bake better, but don't change the oven's temperature. (6-19-05)